The Legend of The Reborn Benders: Water
by AlaricOfSparta
Summary: In a world where all those with the ability to Bend have either died or hidden from the world, a young man must master Water Bending in order to protect the world from a mysterious man with the power to steal Bending. With the Avatar lost, this young Water Bending Novice must fight with a small group of close friends to restore balance to the world.
1. Prologue

This will serve as the first chapter for my Avatar FanFictions. There will be four, one for each element. And they will each involve an individual that is as unique as the element that they control. This is the first story, the story of a Water Bender unlike any other. It is important to let you know that all these are based off a person that I consider a good friend. Though the Water Bender is of my own creation. I hope you enjoy it and if you do I will be posting new chapters hopefully very four days. If you have any suggestions please don't feel that you can't comment. Feel free to follow me as an Author or follow my stories

* * *

Prologue

I remember that it hurt as the hand was plunged into my chest. I could see as the man in front of me began to glow with a cynical red light, my vision beginning to blur. I could see the his pupil dilate and it made me sick. This person is a monster. I don't know why I would ever wanted to help this man. I tried to save his life, and it was now costing me mine…

"You don't have to think like that, you aren't going to die. I have much more use for you alive." His words shocked me, I'd never heard him speak, I'd never known that his voice seemed so raspy that it was almost impossible to understand him. I looked into his green eyes, the only thing visible through his blood red mask. I looked into the hatred of this man for me, for anyone who had more power them him.

"After this, you will be a cold, mindless being. Your only purpose will be to serve me. You will only live to die, for me when the time is right." With these words his hand slide from my chest, the white glove was spotless. The hand had never gone into my body, it had instead reached into my soul, pulling the very essence of me from my body. I hit the ground as though I were a brick, dropping with my face towards his feet, my nose inches from his black boots. His right hand grabbed my collar, raising me above his head as though I were a child. He looked me in the eyes as left hand rose to my forehead.

Placing his thumb on the bridge of my nose, his eyes glowed with that sick red light. Then I was no longer in my body, I was instead watching a scene unfold. My body dropped to the ground like a sack of flour. I could see the rise and fall of my chest, but I was not moving and I was not in control of my own body. The man stood across from my unmoving body, his eyes closed, for a small eternity. He didn't move, he didn't even breath. He just stood there. I thought for a moment that time had stopped, I could see nothing moving, I couldn't hear the wind. I couldn't see anything. Then his eyes flashed open, one glowing blue, the other red. He sighed and a faint silver light came from the hole in his masked that he breathed through. It floated down toward my body, and surrounded me. Circling my body, slowly sinking into the pores of my body.

"Rise." The man said. My body trembled, then shook violently for a moment, before beginning to get on its feet. My eyes opened, but instead of the normal blue they had turned to a stormy gray.

"Yes, Master. I obey." The words floated into the air, without the mouth moving. It wasn't my voice. It was instead a whisper that I could not described. Even if it could I would not, it was too evil. "What do you ask of me, Master."

"There are four Benders on this planet with exceptional talent. I want you to find them and capture them." He paused turning away Bring them to me alive, so that I may absorb their abilities as I have done yours. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master. I obey." The voice spoke, the corpse that was once my body began to walk away.

"Avatar!" The man said, calling me by the title that he new me by. My body stopped, and turned to face him. "You no longer have the ability to bend, I've taken that from you. You will have to find another way to fight. Your Ki is no longer there, so find something. You are void now, empty space."

"Void….?" The voice spoke, the air around it beginning to ripple with power. "Yes, I am Void" With that, he faded into the night without another noise."

The man chuckled, a chuckle of someone who had just played a move that would ensure victory. His laugh was absorbed into the night air, the darkness swallowing it as though it were nothing. He turned to face me, looking me in the eye as though he could see me. Then he walked toward me, stopping an inch from my body. I was unable to move, to act at all as he whispered.

"You shall be the last Avatar, because now your body contains nothing but Void. You have lost Avatar. Nothing in this world can stop me now. There is no longer anything that can stand against me." With that, he vanished. Leaving me alone to wander the forest and the world outside. Though I didn't know it somewhere in the world a young man was just beginning to develop his Bending skills. This person would play a crucial role in the world, and since the Benders have become all but extinct and those who remained live in secrecy, his role would be unknown to all but a few lucky individuals.

This is where my story becomes his, where I begin to wait and see how the world must unfold.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

I could feel the rain hitting my skin. Each drop left me feeling stronger, faster, invulnerable. Almost as if it were sinking inside me, completing a puzzle I had no idea was missing pieces. Opening my eyes I looked around me, the trees were a blur as the rain poured down around me. The darkness hided the leaves above me. The water mad mud below me. The world was a overwhelming chorus of drumming raindrops, with a background of blackened forest.

My left arm slowly moved from my side, slicing through the rain. As each raindrop made contact with my skin it stuck to me like glue. Forming around my arm, encasing them it in a cocoon of cool water. I smiled, then- holding my right arm out- I bended the water between my hands, passing it as though levitating a small ball. The rain continued to fall, and as each drop broke the surface of my ball of water, it grew.

As my body began to move, my right arm stretching in front of me the ball of water became a whip, then I began to almost dance, swirling around my body the water only continued to grow in size. As I reached a out in front of me throw my hand out from its resting place on my there was a stream of water moving with such speed and force that it sliced the nearest tree in half.

Before too long I was climbing back to my feet. Sweat falling from my face and forehead mixed with the mud on the ground. Exhaustion had seeped into my muscles making it hard to move anymore. Fatigue had soaked into my bone, making them ache as I began the walk home. It took only a short ten minutes to reach home, and when I stepped onto my back porch I closed my eyes, feeling the water that had seeped into the fabric of my clothing. I focused until I felt every drop of moisture that clung to my skin, my clothes, my shoes. Throwing my hands into the air all of the water was pushed away from my body, leaving me warm and dry.

I smiled despite my exhaustion and walked in through our back door, then took an immediate right to stair case that read to the loft that served as my room. Though my Parents weren't rich we had inherited this house from my mother's mother. It was big, almost 3000 square feet, and two story. My room was actually half of the second floor, and it was only accessible from the staircase I was walking up now. As my hand trailed the hardwood walls I remembered growing up somewhere far from here, visiting this Virginia Country Home every summer with my Parents. These memories were happy, and every time I found myself thinking of them I couldn't help but smile. It had been sic years since my GrandParents had died in a car accident, leaving everything to their only child. We moved in on my twelfth birthday, and my mother and father gave me this area to myself. My Grandfather-my favorite person in the world- used this area to exercise and work on his hobbies.

Looking around his ghostly hand remained touched on most of my possessions. Everywhere were blue prints for things like boat or mini-submarines. My Grandfather was obsessed with anything that had to do with water. As I've slowly developed my ability to Waterbend I soon began to see why. I felt strongest when near large bodies of water, especially the Ocean. Waterbending was taught to me by my Grandfather from a young age. Before I could even spell my name I was doing Tai Chi with him. As I got older and began to go out and lay on the grass with him, staring up at the stars, hearing stories about the Moon and the Stars. Though he often told stories about other things almost all his stories included the Moon. Many also included people with the ability to control the elements, Bending them to their will.

As my footstep echoed off the floor of the loft that I now called home, I laughed to myself, understanding the truth hidden in those childish tales. They had so much weight to my Grandfather, and they were beginning to have weight to me as well. It has been almost three years since I discovered my powers. I was fifteen when I was almost drowned by incoming tide on the shore of Daytona Beach. When I was pulled under, about to pass out from lack of oxygen I saw the Moon in the distance. Though it was day I could see the moon as though it were full. I felt a tug in my chest and then the water seemed to part for me, providing much needed oxygen to my lungs.

From that day on I was able to control water. At first I wasn't sure how I was doing it, I didn't feel the flow of Ki in my body as it bent to my will. It wasn't until a year ago that a realized what I was actually capable of. Then on, I Bent every second I could. Even waking up at 1am to sneak out. It was just something I felt good doing. It was something that made me feel powerful. It was something that…

There was a noise in the kitchen that stole my attention. It sounded like… I had no idea. Whirling around I slowly walked down the stairs, as silently as I could. The noise started getting louder, the walls began to shake as if they would be toppled by the inhuman sound. With each step I felt as if the world were holding me back, dragging me back to my room. As I took the final step that led to the ground, there was silence in the house. The walls stopped vibrating. The weight holding me back vanished. My heartbeat returned to normal. Fear held me in place, awaiting a death that I knew must be around the corner.

"There is no need to be afraid, Daniel. I wouldn't hurt James Owens Grandson." the man who spoke stepped out in front of me, his black hair was specked with grey. His blue eyes had a look that I hadn't seen in a long time, one that told me this man was a master at whatever he did. Being over six feet he towered over me by almost a foot. He was smiling, but I could see that the smile was intended more for himself then for me. There was a sinister look to it that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "Tell me Daniel," his eyes narrowed, getting dark as the tone of his voice turned cold "Do you know where your Parents are?" My heart stopped, the sound began again, much louder this time. I could feel the house vibrate around me, threatening to collapse. Just when I thought I couldn't take it any longer, the water main behind him burst and water exploded toward me, hitting me square in the chest and throwing me through the back door.

I landed hard on my back, the air getting knocked from my lungs. I wheezed, struggling to fill my lungs.

"I thought that you would be able to stop that! It looks like I broke my promise." He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess that means I can hurt you now. I won't have to hold back" The rain around me stopped as he held up his hand, then thrusting his hand over his shoulder the water that once made me feel strong hit me like bullets. I was thrown into the mud, once again I gasped for air. My lungs were now beginning to burn and there were black dots all across my vision. I never knew that I was so powerless against someone with my abilities. I never thought that would be in something like this.

"Well I guess your Grandfather was wrong about you being a natural. You are nothing like him." He laughed at me, then I heard the rain stop again. My body was rocketed by more bullets. I saw my vision turn red as my mind -starved of oxygen- registered what he had said. I felt strength surge through me, the weight that moments ago weighed down my body vanished. I pushed off of the ground, the mud became solid and helped to push me to my feet.

I met the mans eyes, my jaw set as I took a stance that my Grandfather used often. With my right hand almost fully outstretched, and my left close to my body I was ready for almost anything. As I looked him in the eye he snickered. Then, with a swirl of hands he vanished in a cloud of steam. I spun around and saw that the entire backyard was filled with a thick cloud. This fog, steam, mist whatever it was was thick enough that I couldn't see more then a few inches in front of my face.

"This was a technique that James enjoyed. He called it Zero Visibility. It was my least favorite, at least until I learned…" I compressed the moisture in the air directly to the left of me, then spinning arms around while turning my body I sent a stream of water toward him, hitting where I knew he would be. I felt the impact and immediately returned the water to my side. Returning to my previous stance I pulled more moisture from the air around me, allowing me to see a few feet ahead of me. In a flash I plunged my hand into the water and forming a wall froze it solid.

The wall saved my life, as three large shards of ice shattered my makeshift shelter into a thousand tiny cubes, which I swiftly turned into water and threw back toward the direction that the shards came from. I felt no impact this time and was instead rewarded with a whip across my left ear. I dropped, my sudden burst of energy completely gone. I was once again powerless against the man who claimed to know my Grandfather. The last thing I saw before I closed my eyes were black books, untouched by the mud that I laid in.

My eyes flew open as something cold touched my skin. I was alert for only a moment when I felt something soothing touch my ear. I could see anything, a cloth of some kind was covering my eyes. But I could feel restrains over my chest, waist and legs. I couldn't move anything except my head.

"If you don't want to die, then you need to stay still." The man who had attacked me said. He was the source of cold. "I'm sorry about all that, but I needed test your ability to fight for your life. Your Parents are perfectly fine. There are things you need to understand. Things that your Grandfather hadn't told you before he had died. Things that you wouldn't understand until now." The cloth that was covering my eyes was removed and I could see that I was strapped to a metal table. I looked around and saw that we were in the basement of my house. The damp moldy smile made me feel like I was going to sneeze, it always had. "I'm going to keep you strapped in, so you won't freak out and attack me. You need to listen to this, I swear on my Bending that this is completely true."

"I listen to your story" I said, looking him in the eye. I was no longer scared because I knew that if this man wanted me killed I would already be dead. He was certainly strong enough and I had been unconscious for at least an hour. "Though I will not promise that I will believe it, or that I will not attack you the moment that I get out of these restraints. I'm not one for trusting, especially suspicious strangers who almost tear down my house with noise, or who turn me into a human punching bag either."

"About the almost tearing the house down thing. I wash't actually making the house shake, I was bending the water in your blood. That is a technique call 'BloodBending'. It is very difficult to master and most people can only use it on a full moon, like last night was." He cleared his throat before continuing "What I was doing was bending the water in your entire body. Making your muscles shake and causing the eardrum to vibrate, its a very effective way of confusing your opponent and making them think you are far stronger then you actually are."

"Can I learn that? That sounds like it will come in handy one day"

He laughed, and he looked like he was thinking back to a time that was filled joy. Then he frowned before saying, "No I can't teach you to Blood Bend. Your Grandfather forbid me from ever doing that. If you ever learn how to do it you'll have to learn it yourself, which is almost impossible." He smiled warmly, and it made me think that the side of him I saw before was only reserved for battle. He was very similar to my Grandfather, serious only when the moment called for it. It made me ache to think that this man was so similar to him. I thought about him for a moment before he continued. "My name is Kevin Clare, you will call me Master or Master Clare. I'm going to teach you how to Water Bend like a master."

I started to object but he raised his hand to stop me. "It's not negotiable, it was James' final wish, and I will fulfill it." He looked me deep in the eye, that fierce serious expression hardened his face again. He paused, looking at me as though I were some project that he had to complete. "You Daniel Hawthorne, are a natural born Bender. You have mastered novice level bending without proper training in record time. It usually takes grown men years to learn with training what you learned in months without it. James' blood definitely runs through your veins alright." He cleared his throat again

"Story time!" He face went from serious, to playful. Then as he began talking he was serious once again.

"When your mother was your age, about seventeen I think, I showed up on your Grandfathers doorstep. There was a story about a man in Bristle Virginia with the ability to heal the sick with miracles, and my mother was ill will cancer, so I traveled here to find out if those stories were true. While hunting this miracle-man I was in the woods, following a lead that told me he was known to live in a cabin somewhere deep in the woods. While walking I got lost and was unable to find my way out until after dark. This was back in the day, so most of the woods were still filled with wolves and other things like bears. And everyone knows that said creatures become more active at night. So you can probably see where this is going." Master Clare rubbed his right shoulder, as if remembering something painful.

"I was attacked by wolves, and when I couldn't outrun them anymore one caught up to me and ripped my shoulder open. Your Grandfather showed up out of nowhere and cut them down. H-he…. He grabbed me and carried me to his cabin and healed me with water. Like what I did with you, while you slept. I was passed out for days, so long that when I finally woke, I had to drink a gallon of water before I could beg him to help my mother." His eyes were starting to get red and puffy. He stood up and walked halfway across the room and with his back me he continued. "He said that he was unable to heal something like that. So… so my mother died a few days later. I didn't find out for a few days. Your Grandfather was there with me when I found out. So he asked me a question

'Do you wan the power to protect the people that can't protect themselves?' I told him I didn't know what he meant. So he showed me what Water Bending was. I was under his wing for five years. At that time he told me it was time for me to go elsewhere and learn to use my abilities to help people, like I had promised him I would." He turned around, his eyes had returned to normal and he was very serious when he started talking again. "When you were ten years old your Granddad found me, and he told me he was in trouble. He told me about a person who had discovered the ability to bend Ki. He also said that this person was somehow able to steal another persons ability to Bend, and add it onto his own abilities."

"Wait! How is that possible!" I struggled to keep myself from yelling, I didn't want to upset someone who knew my Grandfather so well. "How can you steal someone's abilities like that?"

"It's not impossible, if you have the ability to Bend Ki. If a person can Bend the Ki in another persons body, then absorb it into their own, then it would give them that ability. He had only one weakness, he could only Bend one element at a time. That's why your Granddad was so eager to find wanted to make sure that I would train you to Bend so you could fight if he and I were to fail…" He walked next to me and kneeled down till we were face to face. "Your Grandfather failed and now it's my turn to try. First though I have to train you. So tell me Daniel" He reached into a bowl of water and as he raised his voice he sliced through my restraints with the water. "Are you going to avenge him?!"

I sat up, my body aching from being locked in place for hours. I stood then looked back at him. "When do I start?"


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I started that day, but my training began in a way that was very unorthodox. Shifu Clare had me in water for hours. Just sitting there, or laying on my back. He would have me lay there listening to his stories. At first he talked about his training with my Grandfather. Then told me oh him and my mother being friends. Of how he watched her and fell in love with her. Then he told me of all the promises they had to keep when Grandpa went off to fight the man that he called Crenate, which he didn't know why he called him that either. As much as i enjoyed listening to Shifu Clare, I soon became frustrated. After three weeks I had not Bent at all. Though every day he said the same thing. "You failed your test, you'll have to try again tomorrow."

He wouldn't tell me what the test was, just that I had yet to pass it. That was all he said, and soon it was starting to piss me off. After two weeks of this nothingness, I finally snapped. "What am I supposed to be doing?!"

"Hmm?" He said, looking at me over his book as I lay in a lake

"Every day you say that I failed my test, but I have no idea what the test is supposed to be. How can I work to pass my test when I have no idea what that test is! You told me that my Mom and Dad agreed to this training when my Grandfather died, but I don't think they would like me not LEARNING anything!" I yelled at him. He closed his book before speaking

"You have failed your test for the day. We can begin tomorrow. Have a good night's rest, Daniel." He stood and walked towards the house. I felt the water around me rise with my anger. I felt a current form, and a whirlpool began to spin around me.

"I'm talking to you!" I scream, and as he turned around I threw myself at him with the force of the whole lake. Before I could make contact I felt something in the air. Almost as if it were drier, like the moisture had been pulled from it. A millisecond before collision my momentum stopped, the whirlpool that was propelling me forward fell to the ground. Shifu Clare had stopped me with a wave of his hand. With barely a movement, he dodged me and the water that served as my attack became his as I was swallowed whole.

When he levitated me -encased in a sphere of water- I felt something…. a twitch in the water. Then with the same speed that he used to stop me in my tracks, he threw me into lake. I felt another twitch in the water, then I was thrown to the surface, my hands and feet frozen in place. Only my head and chest were not encased in the block of ice that he formed around me. Once again I was helpless, once again I was defeated.

"What did you feel?" Shifu Clare asked me, meeting my gaze as the ice meted around me.

"I don't know for sure…" I said, my head bowed in defeat "It was like a twitch in the water."

"You pass." He said, and as I felt the twitch in the water again I was raised to my feet by waves he created. "Look at me, and tell me what it was."

I thought for a long time, and then I met his eyes. "It was the current. I felt the current that you created using you Bending."

"Correct!" He was all smiles now, he seemed happy and when he reached out and placed his hand on my shoulder I knew that he was genuinely proud of me. Once again this strange man reminded me of my Grandfather. He was truly something. "Now you have to learn how to BE water." He smiled from ear to ear.

"How do I become water? Is that even possible? I mean wouldn't I die?"

"You don't literally become the water, you have to figure out the meaning yourself. You have to figure the rest out for yourself." He turned away from me and started to walk back into the house. "You can send the night in the lake. Don't come inside for anything." He opened the front door and walked inside, leaving me alone in the lake. I leaned back in the water and floated.

Closing my eyes I began to listen to water. I felt nothing, heard nothing for a long time. I tried to calm my mind as my Grandfather had taught me. Listening to the sounds of the water, the fish and the weeds moving in the water around me. I couldn't hear anything…. I couldn't feel anything.

"Argh!" I pushed the water away from me, creating a wave. Frustration made me want to move, want to throw things. Then I remembered what Grandpa said, 'When you're angry and you need to move around, do Tai Chi, it's a lot better for you than throwing your hand through a wall. Plus you will find it helps you focus.' Then he would wink at me and continue to work on his model boats or whatever else he had going on at the time.

I stood up straight, my arms at my side. Closing my eyes I visualized my Ki. It was a yellow light in the core of my body, warm and flowing. I began to move my body, doing the motions that my Grandfather had taught me so many years ago. With each motion the Ki flowed through me. Every time I flexed my fingers or moved my leg I could fell the water part to make room for my body, bending to my will. I felt the anger begin to boil up inside me, fighting to be released. I continued to fight it off, my right hand touching the surface of the water -leaving it undisturbed- not breaking the surface. Raised my hand in an arc, but the water followed me, clinging to my skin. Only when my anger finally bust forward did it leave my skin. I released my Ki all at once, exploding it forward with my entire body. Without opening my eyes I could feel exactly what was happening.

A gush of water as tall as I am shot into the air, throwing its self forward with the full force of my anger. It was thrown from my position ten feet out from shore to touch the wood of our dock. Instead of being stopped as I expected the water sliced through the dock like a knife through butter, splitting the wood down the center until it reach the sandy shore. Shooting almost a full ten feet into the air, the splash continued for a long moment, falling to the lake below like rain.

Opening my eyes, I felt calm, cool and collected. I was not phased by the destruction caused by the water. Normally water was calm, as I was now. Though from time to time it would explode outward, destroying everything in the wake of its approach. Water was either a a cooling comfort or a enemy with unmatched patients.

My thoughts stopped me, I began to explore this idea. I began to see things about water that I never had before. I saw that water was patient and flowing, following the path of gravity without question. Water was alive, it breathed and fed and dried up. It formed large bodies or was trapped deep below ground. Water was much more then I had ever imagined.

"Water is alive." I said aloud, the thought replaying in my head, because it didn't sound quite right. It felt as though a piece was missing from the puzzle that i had just discovered. "No… water IS life!" The truth of my words hit me so hard it threw me into action.

Closing my eyes I allowed myself to sink into the water, fully submerged I floated to the muddy bottom. I opened my eyes once again, sitting up with my legs crossed and my hands in my lap. I put my hands around my mouth then slowly pulled them away, leaving fresh, breathable air around me. Then I calmed my mind, thinking nothing. Doing nothing but holding back the water so I could breath. I sat there for a long time, long enough that the moon rose high in the sky, shining its light on me, lighting up my face. The moonlight soaked into my skin, and though it was not full it gave me strength. For a moment I allowed my eyes to close, feeling the water that slowly shifted around my skin.

Taking in a deep breath I imagined the the water around me being pushed back, and felt my skin become drier as well as my clothes. Keeping my eyes closed I reached out and touched the water, breaking the surface with my index finger. Then everything slowed down around me. Everything started to make sense to me.

"Water takes on the shape of the container that it is in. It moves toward the direction that gravity pulls it. Only the Moon has the power to pull water from the Earth. The Moon is the true Water Bending." My eyes flew open, my concentration was broken and the water that was being pushed away from me once again came into contact with my skin. _The Moon Bends all the water on the planet. Water is nothing but a tool to be controlled. It is collective, submissive, and formless. It is the forces of nature that shape water… but it is water that shapes the world. So water can't just be submissive. I… I see now, now I know what water is._

I was floating when I heard the back door open. I was completely still when Shifu Clare stepped into the water, walking then swimming to the place where I lay, moving to the flow of the water, bending to the unstoppable power of gravity.

"What did you learn?"

"That water is a tool" I said without hesitation

"What do you mean by that?" I shifted, the water parting around me as I face him, looking into his blue eyes I began to talk.

"Water is a tool used by everything. Even the smallest fruit fly uses water to survive, without this one thing it would be impossible to survive. Water holds the power of life and death, it is necessary for all life. Though this is true, and by this ideal water holds more power than anything but oxygen, it bends to the will of all forces on Earth. Water collects wherever it is allowed, flowing with gravity downhill. But even man can control water. This lake we are in used to go all the way up there." I pointed to an area halfway between the water's edge and the back porch our house. There was a large wooden pole that my Grandfather used to mark the place where he began to drain the lake. It was the waters edge almost fifty years ago.

"Water is powerful, but it is still very weak. It has the power to decide life and death, but it has no power to control that decision. What is life, but life is not water. Life is the combination of the actions of people, and nature. Water just happens to be one of those things that decides it. By that standard." I stopped, pausing to make sure I phased this right. "Water is powerless and the forces that control it, like the Moon are actually the things that are powerful."

He smiled, his blue eye bright with happiness and excitement. "You pass. You have seen what water is to you, and you have realized that water gives us power to control life. That it is a weapon to be used, but also I tool to be crafted. You have become a much better Water Bender because of it, and now your training can actually begin." propelling himself backward with Bending he was on the shore in seconds. I followed, also using my Bending to make it easier.

"The first thing you will have to do is Shifu the different types of water. Or if you want to be specific the different states of water. You have a good enough understanding of water, now it is time you learn to understand ice, and steam." He motioned for me to follow, then started to walk toward the house. "Did you ever find the secret room? The entrance is in your room."

"No I had no idea there was a secret room in the house."

"Did I say room?" He stopped at the bottom of my staircase, the began to climb the steps. "I meant a secret floor. A basement under your basement."

"How did I never find the entrance?"

"You never looked." At the top of the staircase he stepped to the left, turned to face the wall. "All you had to door was touch the wall." He pressed his hand into the wall, and it pushed open. Revealing a staircase. "You first."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I heard my footsteps echo as I descended the long winding staircase. As I went lower, it became darker and colder. Before too long I couldn't see a thing, I could only see the cold, and hear the eerie echoing of my footsteps below and Shifu Clare's above. I began to shiver, the cold bitting at my skin, stealing the heat from my body. I soon forgot why I was walking. Then when I was starting to feel as if I could never get warm again. I heard water flowing. My foot hit solid rock, and and before me was a metal door.

"This area was made to train you." Shifu Clare said, seeming to appear behind me. "This floor is actually an underground river that feeds from the nearby lakes. Part of the it is frozen. Part of it is at boiling point." He stepped in front of me and pulled out a key. Unlocking the door he looked back at me, then he stepped aside. "You should be the one to go in first. This is all for you."

I took a hesitant step forward, the room was getting colder with each passing second I felt the room grow colder. When I finally felt that I would not be able to enter, I jumped through the door. There was water in front of me. Only a few feet separated me and fast the flowing river. The river was crystal clear, so clear I could see the gray stone at the bottom. The whole room was alight with bluish-green light that came from lanterns on the walls. A motion caught my eye to the right of the room I was in. There was a steady supply of steam coming from a circular hole in the all.

"What is that room?" I asked, turning around to see Shifu Clare silently close the door to the staircase. It wasn't locked, but having the door closed was quite nerve racking.

"It's a for room. The temperature of that room is perfect to keep a stead supply of fog. When you start practicing with water as a gas, you will spend time in there. Can you guess where this water comes from?" He walked to the edge of the river and kneeled down. His tan hand sank beneath the surface of the water and he closed his eyes.

"No, I don't know where it comes from."

"Antarctica. This water comes from the very center, where it is only day for an hour at a time, and that only happens a few times a year. This water was melted from a small glacier made a some of the purest water on Earth. This water has special properties, which is why we have to hide the entrance. It's also why I closed the door behind us." He stood slowly and turned to face me. Walking passed me he said, "Go ahead and strip down to your shorts. You will not want the clothes weighing you down anyways. Then get in to water, but be warned." I could hear the smile in his voice as spoke. "It's very cold." His footsteps stopped near the door. I looked at the water and took off my sockets and shoes.

My feet were pale, contrasting with the rest of my body which was tanner then most people from Virginia. Throwing my shoes aside I pulled my shirt off, then my undershirt. The cold air bit at my skin as I looked out at the river in front of me. I took a step forward, then leaned down to test the water with my hand. It was colder then I ever imagined. It felt like needles stabbing every inch of skin that came into contact with it.

"How am I supposed to move in water like this." I turned to face him, "It's colder than… What are you doing?" Shifu Clare was standing in front of the entrance, the key to the door was now tied around his neck. "Did you lock the door?"

"Yes, and it will stay locked until you Shifu Water Bending." He walked over to me, his blue eyes shining with excitement. "There isn't time to train you in combat and spirit separately. So we are going to have to learn them at the same time. So this is how this works. We have four months worth of food, that's including the extra calories you will need to maintain your body heat, you have until then to defeat me in a fight. If in that time you die, or are unable to beat me then you will be locked down here until you manage to Bend your way to the surface. This is possible, but it is so difficult that even I wouldn't attempt it." His eyes narrowed and he looked at me as though he was not seeing me, but instead was seeing someone else, someone who he feared and admired. "If you do die down here, which is not unlikely, I will have to face the Ki Bender myself. If it comes to that I will die, no one will replace me and all hope will be lost."

"I understand." My body was covered in sweat despite the cold. My hands had become clammy and the hairs on my arms had begun to stand on end. I now understood the gravity of this situation. I could now see just how important my role in all of this was. Clare was prepared to die, knowing that I would be skilled enough to surpass him in a matter of time. My Grandfather was also prepared for death when he went off to fight the Ki Bender. "My Grandfather made this for me before he went of to fight Crenate, didn't he?" Clare nodded "Then he didn't die in a car accident. Crenate killed him." He nodded again "Why didn't my mother train me to Bend? I thought you said she was a Water Bender too?"

"She was a Water Bender. You see Crenate took her Bending away." The shock most have been obvious on my face, because he continued with only a shoot pause, his eyes growing dark and disturbed. Before he continued he ran a hand through his thick blond hair. "When Crenate fought with James… your mother followed him. Crenate only defeated James because she distracted him. He killed your Grandfather and stole her Bending. Though I'm not much better." He looked at me, and something else hit me. "I followed him too, I saved your mother before Crenate killed him, but it cost your Grandfather his life. It's my fault he is dead. Which is why I will show you no mercy when we fight. I will fight until you admit defeat and I will strike to kill. You were are the last hope for defeating him, you still are if I fail."

"Then I guess we need to get started."

"Yes we do. So get in the water. Get used to the cold, or you won't learn a thing."

"Yes sir." I turned and leapt into the water the cold knocking wind out of me. I panicked taking in a lungful of icy water, immediately being to cough my lungs screaming for air. My feet searched for solid ground and unable to find any, my hands searched for the surface. Spinning around I finally felt my right hand break the surface. Pulling up with all my strength I managed to get a gasp of air before colliding hard with the side of the wall. I was once again thrown under, the current catching me and making me fight again. My mind was clouded, my vision was starting to become black around the edges.

Something inside me clicked and my fists touched, the knuckles on my left hand fitting into the space between the knuckles on my right hand. I felt my Ki explode out from my core, throwing the water away from me, giving me a few moments to gather my bearings before the water came back, this time I managed to keep my head above water. This time I was alert enough to shoot myself into the air, landing on the gray rock with my feet still in the water. I gasped for air, then with a burning in my lungs I started to cough up water. I coughed for a long time before my whole body was heaving and I threw up the little bit I had in my stomach. "You couldn't…" I managed to say before I began coughing again, "You couldn't have stopped the current and stopped me from drowning?" I looked where Clare was a moment before and saw nothing but the closed door. "Where are AWK!" something hit me in the ribs and threw me across the rocks, forcing me into the wall ten feet behind me. I saw black dots dancing across my vision, and my vision got dark. I found have passed out if I wasn't hit again, thrown the ten feet back into the icy water. When I resurfaced I saw Clare about ten yards ahead of me. He looked cool and collected, though his eyes had a stone-like look that I had never seen before.

"This training is about survival. Surviving the water, surviving my attacks, surviving the cold. This training is to make you strong enough to survive against someone who wants to kill you. So, try to not be killed." I was pulled under, by the current, by his Bending. I don't know which. Thus began my fight for survival.

I fought for a month, every second I was awake I fought against Clare. Everyday he drove me to admit defeat. Everyday He broke me down, and every day I will try to build myself back up. After a week I no longer felt the cold. After two weeks I could hold my own for a couple hours before I was being thrown around by him. After three weeks I would get him on the defensive for short bursts of time, the entire river between us being turned into a tool that would break our bodies. It didn't take much longer for me to stand my ground from the time I woke up, to the time I fell asleep. At the end of each day I noticed less and less pain, after some time I didn't have any cuts, only bruises and the first month was over I woke to Clare standing over me.

"We start phase two today. Follow me." He turned and walked toward the hole in the wall that lead to the room of fog. He stepped in without looking to see if I was following. I rose to my feet, sore from the day before. I walked in a minute or so behind him and felt the floor grow cold and slick. I almost spilt, having to use the wall to catch myself. "It's ice."

"How can the floor be ice it there is fog in the air?"

"The air is pumped in from outside, so it is warmer then the ice. The ceiling is like the floor of a skating rink. It cools all the water that touches it." He gestured to the floor, "Ice on the condenses the water in the air making fog." He pointed toward the ceiling, "The ceiling keeps the room cool enough that the ice doesn't melt. That's how the fog is created without causing the ice to melt. This is the perfect conditions to Shifu Bending fog and ice."

"I can already Bend ice and fog. You know that"

"Yes you can, but can you use it in combat? No, or you would have by now. I'll be the first to tell you that Bending isn't just about fighting, though it is a pretty big part of it. You've learned to heal people, I can tell by the way you heal yourself every afternoon when you got hurt fighting me. When did you learn to heal?"

"I didn't know I was healing, not until I saw the cuts disappear. I thought you were healing me in my sleep to honest."

"I was, at first." He laughed, then I saw the first smile since we had begun survival training cross his face. "After a few weeks your wounds started to repair themselves. Maybe you have Shifued Water Bending to the point that you can heal yourself unconsciously. It's not unheard of."

"I don't know… You'll have to teach me how to do it on purpose."

"It will have to wait. It's time you Shifued Ice Bending. Tell me the difference between ice and water."

_What is the difference between ice and water? Ice is just solid water, right? It's like a rock made of water. Also ice is colder than water. It takes on a shape…. That's it._

"Ice is solid, shaped and cold. It is unforgiving. It is nothing like water, because it is more like earth."

"Correct, water is conformitive, ice is not. It is individualistic. Also ice is cold and infinitely patient. Water is life, but ice is prison. With practice ice can be more powerful than even water. Because unlike water ice can take shape, and that shape can be your opponents undoing." Clare stuck his hand out then raised it in a blur, freezing bars all around me, sealing me in a jail of ice. He waved his hand again the ice melted. "So now that you can see the difference of ice and water, now you need to learn to use it. Start by breaking all the ice in this room with a single punch. I'll be waiting in the other room. I'll come get you when it's time to eat."

"I'll be done in before it is time for dinner." He laughed then stepped out of the room "Do that, and I'll teach you how to Blood Bend."

"Can I get that in writing?" I laughed.

"Sure!" Clare turned around and pointed at the wall next to me. He moved his finger as though he were writing in the air, but when I turned around I saw that he had actually written something in the ice.

"If Daniel Hawthorne can crack all the ice in this room before dinner tonight, I will teach him to Blood Bend. Signed, Kevin Clare." I looked over at him. "I thought Grandpa said you couldn't teach me Blood Bending?"

"I'm not supposed to, but learning to crack that ice with one punch took me two months. If you do it in a day, you already are a Shifu." He walked away, "It's impossible, so I don't have to worry." He left me in the room by myself, laughing until I could no longer hear his voice.

"One punch… I'm going to break it in one punch… " Time stopped, my hand touching the cold ice at my feet. I slowly allowed my Ki to flow from my body, being pushed into the ice. I began to feel the adrenaline pump into my blood. I felt my lungs fill with air as I pulled my fist back. Ki pooled into the knuckles on my right hand. "One… punch." I drove my fist home, the impact causing white hot pain to shock my eyes open.

The cracks in the ice extended all around me. They were shallow and there was still at least ten feet all around me that was untouched. Blood dripped from my hand, creating a pool of thick crimson. Anger weld up inside me, my Ki exploded. I felt strength surge inside me and slammed fist into ice. I pulled it away did it again, and again and again. I did it until I was no longer angry. My forehead touched the ice, now red with my blood. I screamed suddenly, sick with myself.

"I'm not strong enough…" my eyes weld up with tears. "I can't protect anyone… I can't save anyone…." The tears rolled down my cheeks, hitting the blood below. I collapsed, weeping. The more I cried the angrier at myself I got. The angrier I got the more I cried. I didn't stop for a few hours and when I finally was finished I was weak and my mouth was dry.

I put my hand against the wall and turned a chunk of ice into water and moved it close to my mouth. I drank until I felt my stomach fill with water. Bloated, tired and defeated I stood up. Looking around me I saw that even with slamming my fist against the ice over and over, I still hadn't broken more than half of the ice in the room. I looked down at my hand, the blood still dripping to the ice below. This was Shifu Clare's fault. He was the reason I was in pain. He was the reason I was weak.

"Clare! You're the reason I am weak! If you had started training me sooner, I would be strong enough!" There was a sudden shift inside me, I felt all my drowsiness vanish. "Fight me!" The room started to shake, then the walls were cracking. I stood up and faced the nearest wall, and punched it with my left hand. It shattered, and the cracks spread to the ceiling and the floor.

Looking around me, I suddenly felt calm. I looked at all the cracks and knew that if I was going to break all the ice I would have to use not just rage but also serenity. I would have to control my anger and release it all at once. I started to put the walls and floor back together and then stood in the center of the room. I placed my hand on the ice and started to let my Ki flow into the ice.

I raised my bloody right hand, thinking about my weakness. Thinking about my Grandfather's death, my mother's lies, Shifu Clare's belief that I was not able to do it. I focused all of my anger in to Ki, pooling it into my hand. Then with every bit of power than I had I slammed my fist into the ground.

As I walked away I smiled, holding my bloody hand. The room was falling apart, the ice no longer able to hold its self together. I walked over to Shifu Clare. He raised an eyebrow at the site of my bleeding hand. He didn't say anything for a long time. When he finally said something he looked away from me.

"I failed you."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"You didn't fail me. You didn't know that I would be able to do it. You even thought that I wouldn't have a chance. You are a great Shifu, and I owe you greatly for what you have done for me. I found out that in order to have REAL power I have not be content, not be angry. I have to find a place in my mind where chaos meets serenity. If it wasn't for what you helped me to see, I would really be blind. I think that from now on I will have control. I will be able to do a lot more then just Bend water. I will have the power to help people. You showed me that, you didn't fail me."

"That's not what I was talking about." He looked over at me, his eyes were dark and clouded with grief. "Blood Bending is extremely dark. Also with the ability to Psychic Blood Bend, you will be able to use Blood Bending at anytime. With practice you can do amazing things with it. Your Grandfather was able to Bend the blood in a person causing their brain to lose oxygen and make them pass out. Though what you can do with it is great, it's a very addictive power. That's why your Grandfather wanted you to never learn it… but a promise is a promise. I guess after you master fog you will begin Blood Bending."

"Wait, why aren't you going to teach me how Bend ice? I couldn't have possibly mastered it already. How is that possible?"

"You really only needed to learn to control it, you already could use it to fight." he smiled, his eyes lighting up. "Now all you need s fighting experience to learn to use it in unique ways. So you can develop ways of manipulating it to suit your propose. That is how a Shifu uses his Bending. To be completely honest, you could skip learning to Bend Fog. If that is what you want. Everything you need to learn in that department will have to come from experience."

I walked around, pacing for a few minutes trying to think about what it was that I really wanted to do. I wanted to get to Blood Bending, but I could miss something if I skipped learning to Bend fog. Though if he believed I could skip it, there couldn't be much that I would miss, if anything. The best solution would be to find out what the fog training would be, then make the decision from there.

"What would I be doing in the fog training? Will I really be missing anything if I just skipped it." He cleared his throat then looked at me before answering.

"The training would be the same as the ice training, but instead you would have to remove all the fog in the room with a single sweep. It's not that difficult if you really think about it, so you really wouldn't be missing much. As for understanding fog, I planned on asking you the question anyways. So tell me, Daniel. What is fog?"

"Fog is escape, it is a mirage, fog is a mystery." I said without hesitation.

"Yea, you don't need the training." He said laughing out loud, then his I grew cold and menacing once again. "Tell me now… what do you plan to use Blood Bending for?"

_That was the question, why did I want to know how to Blood Bend so badly? Was it just because I wanted that knowledge? Or did I want to use it in battle? What was it that drove me to want this? I could not come up with an answer no matter how hard I thought. _

"You can have as much time as you want to think of an answer, as long as you tell me the truth. I will know if you are lying, so don't even think about it. If you lie to me I will never teach you how to Blood Bend. So think hard about what you are going to say."

"Yes, Shifu. I will think of the reason that I really want to do something like this." I turned and walked across the room. Sitting against the wall farthest from him I began to think of what mattered to me.

_Blood Bending is the power to control the water in a human's body. Why would I want to control their blood….? So I could stop them without killing them? I guess that is a good reason, but there's more to it… If I can control their body, I can make them turn against each other, start a fight and cause a distraction…. or maybe I can kill them instantly. Stopping the blood from flowing. Stop the enemy from hurting anyone else. That won't work, if I tell Shifu that he definitely not teach me. Then what is the reason. What can I do with Blood Bending that I can't do with normal Water Bending? What can I do… That's it!_ I shot to my feet. Then walked over to Shifu.

"I want to use Blood Bending as a last resort in a fight. If I have no other way of living, I will use it. Only then, I will swear on that. It's a dangerous ability, so I will use it on another person only if I'm about to die."

"That's the same promise I made to your Grandfather twenty years ago." He looked off into the distance. "I will teach you to Blood Bend, starting now." We both stood up. He took a few steps back and then there was about fifty feet between us. With that distance he took a deep breath and then reached out his hand. I felt my body grow tense, the muscles contracting and relaxing. My arms and legs became tired.

"Normally Blood Bending is only possible during the full moon. Though if you can learn to sense the water, and focus all of your powers on that water. You can control it. Now, your first test is to stop me from Bending your blood, by over powering me. This isn't survival training, you just have to learn to resist another Water Benders influence, otherwise you will be overpowered. Blood Bending is a dark art, but we aren't the only ones who do it. So if you ever happen to fight someone who can Blood Bend, you have to be stronger. So, overpower my Bending."

Every muscle in my body locked up. I was standing up straight, and my arms were locked at my side. For the first time in a month I was completely helpless against him. I could feel my blood harden around my bloody hand. He lifted me off the ground and I felt something that I can only describe as pure agony. My body was rocked with muscle spasms so violent that I couldn't focus on anything. I was defenseless against something of this magnitude. If I couldn't break this I would die of shock. _He doesn't know how close he is to killing me, anymore and I will be dead. I won't survive…. I won't survive… I… won't. _My vision went black, I couldn't see, I couldn't hear. All I could do was feel the pain as my body was sent into another set of spasms. I fell to the ground, conscious but unable to move. I was vulnerable for his next attack, and when it came I screamed, as my bones began to scrape against each other. I tried to release some of my Ki, but I couldn't focus enough to build any. I knew that was the only way, so I started small desperate attempts to break his hold on me. Exploding all of the energy I was able to conjure anywhere I could. At first there was no response, almost as if he was completely ignoring my attempts to get free. I started to give up hope, then I felt the pain lessen. I was able to gain more focus, pull more of my Ki together and push back against the hold on my body.

I was making great progress, then I tried to stop him all at once, pushing Ki out around me with all my force. For a moment I was free, just long enough for me to let out a soft groan. Then all at once the pain returned, far more intense then when we began our back in forth. So I began again, slowly taking control of my body, and little by little the pain subsided. Before to long I had managed to push almost half of it away and when he attempted to regain control of an area of my body, I would successfully fight him off, I may have lost a little in the process, but slowly I was able to fight him off. Gaining enough ground back that I thought I could stand up and fight back, I pushed off against the floor, slowly rising to my knees.

"Stay down!" He growled at me, and my body convulsed, the bones in my right hand were shattered as the blood froze around it. I managed to keep myself from whimpering. Once again gaining my composure, I placed my back foot on the ground and opened my eyes. I raised my head and look deep into his, fury giving me strength once again.

"I… am.. the master of… my own… body, and.. no one… will ever take that away… from… me!" I rose slowly to my feet. I felt my arteries harden, but this time instead of causing me pain it flooded my body with strength. I took a step forward, and was barely able to maintain my composure as he shot intense pain into my left shoulder. Tightening the muscles in my left shoulder to the point that it shattered. I lurched forward and coughed up blood.

"You can't overpower me, not yet Daniel. You're going to cause your body irreparable dam-"

"Shut the fuck up!" I screamed, and I felt every vein in my body compress as I regained control. The frozen blood from my left hand reformed to create a thin blade, and the bones returned to their positions. Red light came was admitted and the pain in my hand stopped all at once. My skin began to crawl as I felt my hand correct and repair all the damage that was done to it.

"How…! How can you use blood to heal! How can you heal a wound like that, without even trying! What kind of monster are you?!" As he spoke I felt the blood vessels in my eyes contract and my vision became sharper. Raising a healed right hand, surrounded in a blade made of my own blood I looked through him, into the precious water that made up over 70% of his body. Then with a flick of my wrist, I threw him across the room.

"I'm not a monster. I'm something different." I started walking toward him, my shoulder beginning to repair. The blood ice around my hand melted and dripped to the ground, leaving a short trail as I grew closer. The look in his eyes as I raised my hand over him, starting to gain control of his body made me sick. The shock stopped me, and I realized that I could have killed him. "I'm sorry, Shifu. I could have killed you." I released him from my grip. Losing my focus I felt my blood relax, and as it returned to normal I began to feel weaker.

"Daniel, I think it is safe to say that although I have more practice and training then you." He rose to his feet, using the wall as support. "You have a large amount of raw ability that at first bridged the gap between us. Now that, it shows me that we are no longer in the same league. Daniel, I can no longer call myself your Shifu. Instead you should be calling me your student." He gave slight bow, his blond hair covering his he slide the key off from around his neck and handed it over to me. I hesitated for a moment before taking it. "Do as you wish, I no longer have anything to teach you. If I stay any longer I will just get in your way." He raised his head to look me in the eye. "You are a monster Daniel Hawthorne, a Water Bending monster." He walked over to the door and opened it. Before walking out he looked back at me. "This door will lock behind me. So you can have the privacy to develop and master you own special skills. There is enough supplies remaining that we could stay here for another month. So you should be able to last up to for times that long if you ration out your food. Daniel…?"

"Yes, Clare?"

"Your Grandfather would be very proud. His grandson is just as much a monster as he is. That's all that psychopath could have wished for." With that the door closed behind him, leaving me alone with nothing but a key, a room full of food, and my Bending.

As I unlocked the steel door and began to ascend the stairs the warmth hit me. I noticed that by cooling my blood I no longer felt the heat. It didn't take long for me to reach top of the stairs, or at least it didn't feel like it took that long. Over the last few months I stopped noticing time go by. I wouldn't have known that I was down there for 3 months if I hadn't had the calendar on the wall where the food was. Towards the end of my training I would go hours without feeling even the slightest bit of hunger, thirst or exhaustion.

I reached the top of the staircase and grabbed the handles, pulled the door open and stepped inside, closing the door behind me. My room looked untouched, and I could hear nothing in the hours below me. I looked around my room, picking up old project that was half finished. It was a model of some kind of armor that surrounded the body, looking at it it appeared to be controlled by Water Bending. I set it down and walked into my bathroom. Looking in the mirror I noticed the changes that the last six months had on me. My once short hair was now falling into my eyes, every once in a while filling my vision with stringy chestnut brown hair. My gray eyes, once filled with emotion, now were unreadable and cold. I looked like a familiar stranger. It was easy to tell that I was different on the inside too, you could see that just by the look in my eyes.

I left the bathroom and walked to the staircase, descending slowly to the kitchen below. I looked around and saw nothing, so I walked on to the living room. Sitting in a chair was a man with graying hair. He was hunched over, as though he was sleeping.

"Hello? Who are you?"

"Daniel?" The man's voice was raspy and he slowly raised his head to look at me. "Daniel…. it's me… Kevin." He tried to stand, but he collapsed, too weak to rise to his feet.

"Shifu Clare…. What happened?" I walked over too him and kneeled down to look him in the eye.

"There's another player" He coughed for a moment before continuing. "In this game… There's someone who can Bend Ki…. and not just take your ability to Bend… but take away your life energy." Tears began to stream down his face, and he looked away from me. Through his tears he spoke again. "Your parents are dead, Daniel. I'm sorry… he killed them." He looked into my eyes, then he froze. His eyes glazed over and he fell forward onto the floor, dead.


End file.
